Master Paintings and Drawings

Master Paintings and Drawings

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 114. A still life of flowers set on a table with a carpet, a music book and a dog seated on a pillow.

Property from the Estate of Alexis Gregory, sold to benefit the Alexis Gregory Foundation

François Habert

A still life of flowers set on a table with a carpet, a music book and a dog seated on a pillow

Lot Closed

October 22, 02:32 PM GMT

Estimate

15,000 - 20,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property from the Estate of Alexis Gregory, sold to benefit the Alexis Gregory Foundation

François Habert

Active in Paris, mid-17th century

A still life of flowers set on a table with a carpet, a music book and a dog seated on a pillow


signed and dated upper right: F. Habert 1649 

oil on canvas

canvas: 44¾ by 56 in.; 113.7 by 142.3 cm.

framed: 53½ by 64½ in.; 135.9 by 263.8 cm. 

Anonymous sale, Monaco, Sotheby's, 6 December 1987, lot 74 (as F*** Habert);
There acquired. 
A pupil of the famous still life painter Jan Davidsz de Heem, François Habert was active in Paris from about 1643-1652, though little is known about his life, including whether he was French or Flemish.  As Eric Coatalem notes, the prices listed for his paintings in 18th century inventories indicate that he was an important and successful artist.Both Dutch and Flemish influences are evident in this grand and complex composition, which he has proudly signed at right.  Habert's paintings, of which only a handful are known today, range from smaller and more simple still lifes to large-scale, grand tablescapes with ornate fabrics, food, and objects such as the present painting.

1. E. Coatalem, La nature morte française au XVIIe siècle, Dijon 2014, p. 184.